


Friends, I watched us as we changed

by halfdecenthumanbeing (orphan_account)



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, anyways this is a gay party event because i'm gay and I see myself on these kids, because im a '01 kid and my knowledge about the 80's is super limited, billy hargrove is NOT an abusive idiot in this one, just a regular teenage idiot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-07-19 14:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19975243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/halfdecenthumanbeing
Summary: Max really hates being the new kid, in a new school, living in a new house in a new city. It really sucks, and you never really get used to it. She should know, it's happened seven times in her sixteen years of life. Now she's in Indiana, in some lame town called Hawkins of all things and she's gotta start over in finding the best way to cruise over her stay that won't last more than a year with minimum complications.The biggest flaw in that plan: the girl that sits next to her and who Max keeps running into.





	Friends, I watched us as we changed

**Author's Note:**

> First ST fic, I have no idea what I'm doing, maybe this will break my writer's block?

# 

Max really hates being the new kid, in a new school, living in a new house in a new city. It really sucks, and you never really get used to it. She should know, it's happened six times in her seventeen years of life. She was born in Long Beach and lived there for six years until her mother married Neil Hargrove, whose job meant they had to move a lot. Next was Henderson for a couple years, then Las Vegas for ten months, Pueblo for a little less, Cheyenne for what was barely a school year, then Los Angeles for so long Max for once believed Neil's "this is the last move" promise. But she should've known never to trust anything that man said, because once again, his bosses called and two weeks later they were packing boxes. Max didn't actually know what her stepfather's job was, because whenever someone asked he puffed his chest and talked about his importance and how he couldn't say much because that's how important he and his work were. If you asked Max, he was someone's bitch. Sure, that someone might do something that could be considered relevant, but Neil was so angry all the time and had such little say when he was sent to another state, he was just that someone's errand man. Of course, she knew better than to mention that, no matter how tempted she was when he gave her the news of his new destination with a "pack your things, Maxine" so dismissive that made her wish he'd fall down the stairs and be yeeted out the door forever. 

But miracles don't happen like that, so here she is now, in the greatly lame town of Hawkins, in Indiana of all places (even Ohio would've been better) where, by past experiences, she assumes she'll live somewhere between six months and a year. Enough to finish junior year, at least, as Neil had oh so caringly promised. He didn't care enough to avoid transferring her in the middle of the semester though, so she'd be starting class on Monday two months behind her classmates.

The sound of the door slamming against the wall as it opened brought Max out of her own mind, but she was so used to it she didn't otherwise react. No matter how upset she was at moving to Indiana, she at least knew there was one other member of her family that was just as upset and even more angry about it. Billy walked inside the room, avoiding the boxes laying lazily all over the floor without even looking and flopped on the bed next to her, making Max fall off her own mattress and end up on the floor.

"Neil said we had to unpack everything by tonight", she stood up and started rummaging through the boxes and bags.

Billy hummed some rock song she didn't care enough about to identify. "He sure did".

She smiled when she found her target, turning around to face her stepbrother with her favorite jacket and skateboard one on each hand. "So when do we leave?"

"Right now." He was still lying on her bed, but he made a show of taking out the keys to his Camaro and twirling them around his finger. "I think our dear parents would agree knowing this lame-ass town is just as important as emptying boxes, don't you think?"

Max could see the anger on his eyes and the bruise blooming on his arm, and didn't need to be a psychic to put together what happened. It's why she was ready to get out of the house the moment he stepped in her room, no matter how much of an idiot Billy was. She was 5 when they first met, and he was a very angry 8 year old who only got more mad every passing year, but they also got closer, because their anger and incredulity at their parents behavior meant they had a common enemy and there's nothing better at promoting sibling bonding. That's why she also knew he had less chances of doing something truly stupid if she went along, and she didn't especially want to stay inside that house ( _ not _ home. Home was a two floor house back in LA, near the beach and their schools).

\---

Hadn't Max being so used to Billy and his Billyness, she would probably be gripping the car seat like a lifeline, but since that wasn't the case she was comfortably stretching with her feet on the dashboard as her brother drove at what surely was a dangerous and illegal speed. They were listening to The Pretty Reckless (a compromise between Billy's heavy metal preferences and Max's leaning towards female fronted bands and not so heavy rock), when a police siren sounded off from behind them. 

Max could see the fight in Billy's eyes: the want of speeding off and turning this into a car chase and the knowledge that his plate would be registered, he had a minor on his car and his father would punch him through a wall if he knew. So, slowly, he pulled to the side of the road and Max witnessed her brother's transformation into a smiling young man and she held back a snort as she put her feet down and smiled innocently herself. A gruff looking man knocked on the driver's window and signaled for them to get out so they carefully did so, hands up and car papers and license on Billy's right hand. The policeman was sporting a mustache that only added to the small town cop vibe, and he gruffly looked over the papers and license.

“Do you know what speed you were going at", the man glanced back at the license on his hand, "William Hargrove?”

Billy grimaced, but politely and fakely smiled through it. “Billy, Officer. I go by Billy. And I assume too fast? I apologize, it's my first day in town and I was excited about getting to know my new home."

Max bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at her brother and, most importantly, at the extremely unimpressed look Officer-, she read his nametag and had to bite down even harder to stop a chuckle, Hopper was giving Billy.

“And I go by Chief. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind and decide to see through the bullcrap you said.” Billy took his papers and license back and motioned for Max to get back in the car when the Chief looked at her. “You, kid. Who are you? And what are you, like eighteen?”

“Seventeen. I’m Max, Billy’s sister.”

She decided to not say anything else until she knew what he was getting at.

“I, uh, have a kid your age. Probably will be on your class. I can tell her to find you on your first day and show you around, since you’re new and all that.”

Max was a little touched because she could tell the gruff man was genuine, but she’d rather sit on thumbtacks than hang out with a minicop, much less on her first day. Just the thought of walking around with a stuck-up kid that would probably get on her nerves and would judge everything about her put her in a bad mood. She had met one too many girls that thought everyone should be like them because their parents were rich, powerful or had some sort of authority.

“Thank you, Chief, but I like to find my own way around new places. In fact, I’d like to do that with my brother now.”

“I like your attitude, but I’d like it more if I hadn’t just pulled over your brother for speeding.” Chief Hopper chuckled and Max almost did the same, seeing Billy’s smile falter for a moment. “Go now, but next time I catch you breaking the law I won’t be so nice.”

She got back in the car now, but kept quiet. Billy broke the silence after a few moments when he started laughing. “You’re crazy, dismissing a cop like that, Mad Max.”

“Maybe, but I’d have to be even crazier to hang out with a cop’s kid. Even if he didn’t give you a ticket. You got lucky this time.”

Billy ruffled her hair without taking his eyes off the road, and smiled while she complained.

“Yeah, I think I did.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Please don't yell at me, I haven't written in a long time.


End file.
